<html><body style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><div>I don't understand how "dirty money" goes in and comes out "clean", whether it's bookmakers or someone walking into a casino with a
stack of "dirty" money, buying chips, betting it thereby
almost certainly losing some then cashing in the chips and leaving
with "clean" money.<br /></div><p> ****************</p>This article is from the November 4 issue of Australian Financial Review Digital Edition. <br /><blockquote><div><br /><br /> Elouise Fowler <br /><br /> One of Australia’s largest bookmakers, Sportsbet, insists it has invested ‘‘ heavily’ ’ in its anti-money laundering systems , but the foreign-owned bookie shied away from declaring it was compliant with the law, after a new probe into the betting shop and its smaller rival, Bet365, was launched on Wednesday . <br /><br />Financial crimes watchdog AUSTRAC has appointed two external auditors to rake over the foreign-owned betting shops’ activities and report their findings within 180 days . <br /><br />AUSTRAC chief executive Nicole Rose suspects dirty cash is flowing through the two bookmakers following a ‘‘ deep investigation’ ’ of transactions and launched the probe into the foreign-owned bookies just a day after the lucrative Melbourne Cup. <br /><br />Sportsbet and Bet365 face the prospect of multimillion-dollar fines and other severe regulatory interventions if the auditors find evidence of weak compliance systems and proceeds of crime washing through the firms . <br /><br />Sportsbet, the FTSE-listed subsidiary of Flutter, said in a statement it invests ‘‘ heavily in anti-money laundering and countering terrorism finance (AML/ CTF) compliance and in our people, processes and systems’’ . <br /><br />But it did not address the question when asked by The Australian Financial Review whether it stood by its systems and processes for tracking money laundering and undertaking due diligence on clients. <br /><br />Bet365, which is privately owned in the UK and registered in the Northern Territory , echoed it was ‘‘ strongly committed to maintaining high levels of compliance’’ . <br /><br />But the UK betting shop set itself apart from Sportsbet by insisting it has ‘‘ robust policies and procedures to minimise risks’ ’ of AML/CTF. <br /><br />Sportsbet said the new investigation comes after a periodic compliance assessment of the bookie from 2016 to 2020 by AUSTRAC. <br /><br />‘‘ Since then, we have enhanced our program and practices, including conducting an independent review.’’ <br /><br />AUSTRAC’s crackdown comes after it launched an anti-money-laundering ‘‘ enforcement investigation’ ’ into Ladbrokes owner Entain last month and five years after it hit Tabcorp with a $45 million fine for allowing customers to facilitate dirty money through their betting accounts. <br /><br />The auditors, who will be appointed at Sportsbet and Bet365’s expense, will assess whether the betting shops adopt and maintain strong enough defences to identify , mitigate and manage money laundering; conduct thorough due diligence on their customers, and ensure senior management has proper oversight. <br /><br />The appointment of the auditors could lead to an ‘‘ enforcement investigation’ ’ by AUSTRAC. This is the latest investigation to envelop the Sportsbet owner, which has overtaken Tabcorp as the dominant local betting shop because of the merger between Flutter and The Stars Group. <br /><br />The combined revenue of subsidiary outfits Sportsbet and BetEasy means Flutter controls roughly 50 per cent of the country’s punting take, $1.72 billion of revenue from almost $16 billion worth of bets in 2021. <br /><br />Last year , NSW Liquor & Gaming NSW fined Sportsbet $135,000 for spamming customers with enticements when they had opted out of such material. <br /><br />The Australian Communications and Media Authority separately scored a $3.7 million penalty against Sportsbet this year for spamming customers. <br /><br />And in 2016, Bet365 was handed a $2.75 million penalty after it was found guilty of luring new punters with a false ‘‘ free bets’ ’ offer. <br /><br /><br />Copyright © 2022 Australian Financial Review<br /></div>
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